Avoiding Brain Drain During Winter Vacation

For thousands of school children, a magical time has arrived: Two weeks of winter vacation! This time of year is wonderful for spending time with family and friends. Whether you’re baking cookies, telling stories, or just relaxing, these two weeks are a much needed break for many people. But what about your brain? Is it taking a break too?

Research shows that a stimulated brain can generate as much as 25 watts of power – enough to switch on a light bulb! Unfortunately, during winter vacation, not too many lights are going on. Many experts and educators worry that the “brain drain,” as they call it, that occurs during long breaks can hurt the education of children and teenagers.

The easiest ways to engage your brain are reading and doing puzzles. Pick a favorite book and read for an hour a day. Or, work out your brain with Crossword and Sudoku puzzles. Research shows that doing one of these types of puzzles every day improves your brain’s ability!

Here are a few other easy ideas for keeping your brain fresh During Winter Vacation.

The Playstation Move and Xbox 360 Kinect are hot holiday gift items, and they’re great for keeping young people on the move. However, video games can be a great way to keep your brain in shape too! Games like Little Big Planet for the PS3 and Brain Challenge for the Xbox 360 are excellent for using the creative parts of your brain and improving your memory. The Wii also has many educational games for a wide range of kids, including the Jumpstart series and Sesame Street themed games. There are also thousands of great educational computer games available. Check out the Learningtoday.com blog for some of the best free games.

Winter Vacation is a perfect time for getting the family together and playing games. Old and new games alike can provide exercise for your brain. Classics like Monopoly can help your math skills stay fresh, and Balderdash is a game that will teach you new words and challenge you to be creative at the same time. New games like Scrabble Flash use technology to give a new spin to old fun. Scrabble Flash gives you five letters, and you have to race against your family and friends to see who can create the most words with those letters!